


Eye Opener

by CAPSING



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Spoilers, The Inner Workings of Cat People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 02:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18022898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CAPSING/pseuds/CAPSING
Summary: There’s never the right time for anything, until you make it so.(Spoilers for Captain Marvel).





	Eye Opener

**Author's Note:**

> just a short something 'cause cats

Nick always wanted a cat, ever since he was young.

But there was never the right time for that.

Mom was allergic.

The Military didn’t allow for pets.

And after that, well.

After that Nick thought of missions to Bulgaria, Belgium, Belarus, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Botswana, Bolivia– long, never-ending missions from which one oftentimes never returns home.

Being a secret government agency agent didn’t help, either – it wasn’t that he could just sign whichever cat off to his mom (who was still allergic), for months at a time.

At some point, there weren’t more stories to tell her.

 

 

It always makes Nick happy, to meet an affectionate cat, to have them curl around his feet and press against his calves.

Goose knows just when to pop by, when Nick’s mind is still trying to wrap around the fact that there’s aliens and more than just one species and they’re all plenty humanoid and some shapeshift and some just look like a person who might sit next to you on the train.  

Her purrs are pleasant against his hands, her fur soft and well-groomed. He doesn’t see any reason to stop his baby-talk; Vers is an alien, anyway, and Goose seems to enjoy it.

 

The Skrull edging away from Goose serves Nick in keeping his mistrust in them. The alien who just tried shooting him not a few hours ago, who probably murdered his boss, tries to approach them with vague intentions.

Watching the file slowly loading on the screen, Nick thinks Goose would probably like Coulson a lot.

 

Then they’re on a spaceship and the other aliens (Kree sure come in a plethora of presentations and murderous intentions) mark Goose as a hazard and muzzle her like she’s a rabid beast, and Nick’s heart is feeling just a smidge of a prickle at her being racially profiled and locked away.

She is a good cat, and although all cats are good cats, many of them are assholes, which Goose definitely wasn’t.

He has half-a-mind to think her temperament is sort of ideal, as she behaved well around Monica, and it’s not that Nick’s going to have kids anytime ever, but still, he can appreciate it, in a cat. Also pretty chill about all those aliens, and joined them all on flights ever without a carrier – Nick knew cats that couldn’t even handle a car ride without throwing up all over the place.

Nick guesses he’d be more stressed about this whole dying thing if he hadn’t already been there a few dozen of times, with worse odds. He does feel responsible for those kids’ safety – they’re pretty cute, and they’re children who shouldn’t be facing horrors such as blank-faced soldiers with no moral compunctions about slaughtering children or innocent kitties.

 

Then Goose opens her maw, and swallows the three armed alien guards whole.

Which might’ve been the most jarring experience Nick has had on that day, if not for the fact he knew he needed to pick her up after that, and where did all those guards just _vanished_ into–

He mentally shakes himself – there’d be time for question later, when they’re done with this ship and those kids and the hostile threat which was still orbiting around Earth, and could crash into a major city if Nick didn’t got his shit together and picked up the fuzzy tentacle monster just as he did a few minutes back.

Goose was still Goose, and if Goose was a Flerken now she was Flerken way before that, and all that time she hadn’t chewed Nick’s face off.

So he thought they were probably good.

 

 

It appeared that they were, and Nick is giddy as Maria flies the vessel flawlessly, unable to do more than just experience reality as it flashes around him. He can hardly comprehend the amount of information Maria is processing in barely a blink of an eye – all those twists, turns and somersaults that ends up saving them all.

He’s a bit careless when he picks Goose after all of that, ignoring the way her tail flails from side to side, the ears that are flattened back against her skull – the usual warning signs that the creature he’s holding up to stare dead in the eye does not appreciate it, and would very much like to take a moment to settle down.

That earns him a new cool eye-patch, with three scars to match.

The cost of his depth perception is a bit unfortunate, though, but Nick could do without. He did have a spare eye, and it did seem unlikely he’d come back from such an experience unscathed.

And SHIELD agents sure loved their mysteries. After his medical checkup, he’d give it about five minutes before the rumor mill would start concocting bizarre, ludicrous stories about his eye – and looking forwards to hearing them.

It couldn’t be more outrageous than what he’d already experienced.

 

No one questions Goose. Or rather, her suddenly appearing in Nick’s office, who had been catified overnight – and now has a cat bed and a scratching post, dishes for both her food and her water and more toys than she could possibly need (but enough so that she’d be able to pick whichever one she likes most).

When he works overtime, Goose is there to gently paw at his face from where it smooshed against the keyboard, butting her head against his drool-covered cheek.

When he goes home, she trots confidently next to him, tail up in the air, and waits until he opens the passenger’s side door before leaping into the car.

When he goes to bed, she curls on top of the covers, on his feet, and between peeing and waking her up, Nick prefers letting her sleep – all those covert missions and hours laying still in ambushes finally paying off.

Nick always wanted a cat, but instead he gets Goose - and that’s even better.

 

 

(Coulson ends up sneaking Goose cat-treats when he thinks Nick isn’t watching, and Nick rests just a bit easier knowing that as long as Earth was still around, Goose would always have someone looking after her.

 

Goose might be an alien, but she wasn’t a threat.

Anyone who knew her could see that.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Goose was cute, I hope to see more of her and that Flerkens have really long lifespans  
> [also come validate my witty kitty post ](https://twitter.com/CAPSINGZ/status/1103395094072360960)  
> Feedback is always welcome! ♥


End file.
